#briar rambles

Or… a video game actually, aimed at kids. In fact, I even have real actual proof for that last example. It’s what sparked me to write this post.

And I really need people who actually believe that these controlling systems of censorship and surveillance that are being put in place to “protect” children and teens to see this crash out and really truly read all of it! Please! Because you all seriously need to know how ridiculous this is getting and what these systems actually do! And if anyone wants to add more examples of this in a reblog chain then please do! The more evidence showcasing this bullshit the better!

So, last night on Bluesky I came across a screenshot of a game I play, a first party Nintendo game to be specific. The screenshot was marked as “explicit content” by the BlueSky moderation team, not the post’s author. If I was not using a VPN set to Ireland, I would not have been able to see the post at all! All because I live in Scotland, which is now eternally handcuffed to England via a fucking bear trap. And the day I hand over my passport to a social media company or let their dodgy “ai” phrenology bot scan my face, will be a freezing cold day in Thatcher’s personal circle of hell.

So, what’s wrong with the screenshot? Did someone mod the game? Did someone make like idk pixel art in it or something? No. It is a normal screenshot of vanilla gameplay that happened to include a depiction of a penis. Content that is actually in the game in fact. Knowing that now you might say “well okay, but that’s genitalia and nudity! So of course it got flagged.” But now you might be wondering what 1st party Nintendo game would have a depiction of a penis in it that is accurate enough to be flagged by an auto moderator? Well I’ll show you! It put it under the read more so I wouldn’t spoil you! I bet the suspense is killing you! Go take a look :)

(Mild edit, I decided to censor the pfp and name of the OP of the post to protect their identity, I completely forgot to do that)

- retrospective: dream smp's place in internet culture; how a very unique set of circumstances led to the explosion in popularity

- retrospective: rise and fall of the dream smp; something about how scheduling issues and various other things caused the actual story of the server to fall apart in many ways

- legitimately probably dozens of character studies and story analyses i could do especially about tommy dream and wilbur who are my favorites and have such a unique narrative dynamic

- i have this one fucking batshit theory/take from ages ago (just after tommy died in prison) in which pandora's vault is representative of the actual moral center of the dsmp and tbh i think i cooked with that one

- the impact of fanon on canon and my own personal experiences with Canon As A Suggestion

- the unique space the medium occupies: cc! and c! blurring the lines between actor and character, the weird half-lore segments, the fact that it started out as a bit and became something So Serious, the way that live-streamed minecraft roleplay actually works as a storytelling medium

- legitimately i could probably write really good literature reviews on certain subsections of fanfiction especially sbi tropes.

- subpoint: how the dream smp's specific boundaries and culture made gen fic far more popular than ship fic and how that is so nice to see as an aroace person specifically but also just in general

- just a personal essay on how important and impactful the dream smp was to me As A Person and how it's still a piece of media that is really really important to me, and how i balance that with the feeling of cringe and also The Controversy

- an exploration of fandom space and culture through the dsmp and my experiences in it autoethnography style

ok i don't know exactly how niche this is but my favorite movies of all time are both like. not extremely popular so

ok my two favorite movies of all time are tied and it's the prestige and the count of monte cristo (2002)

so. the prestige. it's a story about two magicians in 1890s london. they hate each other. they hate each other so much. i can't even explain the movie without giving anything away because it's an absolute masterclass in foreshadowing and well-earned plot twists. it's sort of a mystery but not really. it's DEFINITELY a drama. it's the world's greatest revenge story. it's about hatred and obsession and how they ruin your life. it's about magic. it's about humanity. it's about not believing the obvious answer even when it's right in front of you because it's too simple. nikola tesla is there and plays a major role in the story. it's a frame narrative with three levels - you're watching the story of a man reading a diary about how that diary's author was reading the first man's diary. there's a murder trial. the plot twist is so well earned. it's a million times better on the rewatch and i catch a new detail every time i watch it. the cinematography is absolutely gorgeous. if you're paying attention you can catch the biggest plot twist 10 minutes into the movie but no one ever does, which is in and of itself the thesis of the movie. michael caine plays the best character in the movie. i think everyone should watch the prestige

the count of monte cristo (2002) is the most recent(?) film adaptation of a famous classic french novel by the same name. it's ALSO a revenge story. it is probably the most satisfying revenge story ive ever seen. the absolute catharsis of watching the main character's revenge plot come together and get executed flawlessly is like doing straight heroin. napoleon bonaparte is there and plays a minor role in the story. there's a scene that makes me cry. if you asked me what love looks like i would point to that scene without hesitation. richard harris plays the best character in the entire movie. there's several extremely punchable men. they all, in fact, get punched. henry cavill plays an entitled rich 16 year old boy with daddy issues. the pacing of the story is phenomenal. my favorite scene in the movie involves a hot air balloon and an absolutely pimpin outfit, complete with cane

Sorry I’ve not been so active guys recently! We had a blue screen of death on the computer and it took a while to get fixed. Installing everything was such a pain. But I crocheted a pretty scarf so I wasn’t too bored XD

But now it’s back and I can finally play Metro Exodus and my other games! I’ll be posting lots of screenshots, and I know it’s not for everyone so feel free to blacklist it. I’ll be using the tags: Metro 2033, Metro Last Light and Metro Exodus depending on the game. 

I don’t want to make people see stuff they don’t want to, or see spoilers! I know not everyone has played it yet (yey for Steam Preorders =D) 

I promise I’ll get back to my drawing and DA, ME and Witcher stuff soon =D I have a new Shepard to introduce you too!!

I’ve officially hit my boiling point with this bullshit, I am so truly sick of it. It’s unbelievably rude and disrespectful to do this, and quite frankly it’s just fucking cruel. It’s so deeply unnecessary! When someone does this they are simply just telling someone to shut up, trying to shame them into being silent because they personally cannot endure a mild annoyance, or even bring themselves to be polite about voicing this. All the while having the fucking gall to frame the “yapper” as being the rude one who is violating an unspoken social rule!

I also believe this is honestly indicative of how wide-spread and prevalent anti-intellectualism is becoming. That now anything longer than 1-2 paragraphs of no more than 3 simply worded, short and sweet sentences is now the threshold for a post or message to be seen as an insufferable “wall of text” or an “essay” apparently. How the fuck is anyone supposed to effectively communicate and explain anything like this? All it does is stifle and entirely shut down open discussions! I fucking hate this, it’s miserable!

It frames open and precise communication that values detail as being shameful. It conveys that being caring, passionate, and just emotionally genuine, as all being negative traits that must be corrected, and thus are “deserving of” social ridicule. It makes the world a less interesting, inquisitive, curious and thoughtful place and I just… despise it so much!

And this isn’t even me getting into the ableism aspect of it! I personally know the lasting damage this shit can do to one’s confidence, self-perception, self-worth and ability to communicate in a way that is just… sustainable, because that’s the impact that years and years of being told I’m annoying and I need to shut up or “calm down”, be less of myself, has had on me! As someone who is autistic with adhd, and that comes with being hyper verbal. Over, and over, and over again, ridiculed and mocked for a behaviour I simply cannot mask without destroying myself. It makes me never, ever want to speak!

All because it’s apparently just too much to ask that people simply just give “annoying” and “yappy” people like me the benefit of the doubt! Just a tiny bit of fucking grace! No, they need to wound me, it’s not enough for them to just ignore me, and I’m not allowed to be upset about it or even defend myself, lest I be scolded for “taking the bait” or “taking it too seriously” or not being the “more mature” person. It’s not fucking fair!

Fuck Masefield, that doesn’t hold a candle to the hysteria that would induce into a species that has just met weird sapient aliens who can’t breathe their salt-water atmosphere but they’ve somehow managed to “invent” (in quotations because Alterra stealing from the Architects isn’t inventing shit) immortality!

Like that Tailing just held that alien’s lifeless, limp, soft, weird little body in their claws. Their weird Bones or spine or whatever just… crumpled, not breathing their weird air anymore, and yet here they are again! They’re back! As if nothing fucking happened! Surprise bitch!